WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Gene Keady's farewell lap around

Mackey Arena was missing one thing Saturday -- a victory

celebration.

Vincent Grier and Aaron Robinson ruined the party, rallying

Minnesota from a 15-point second-half deficit past Purdue 59-57 on

a day in which Boilermaker fans said goodbye after Keady's 25

seasons as coach.

Boilermakers officials gave Keady several gifts in a lengthy

postgame ceremony before the coach addressed the sellout crowd.

After the ceremony, Keady walked around the arena with his wife,

Pat, waving to the fans before walking through the tunnel for the

last time at Purdue.

"We couldn't pull it off today, but we're not finished," Keady

told the crowd. "We're going to go to Illinois and try to upset

Bruce (Weber), and then we're going to go to Wisconsin and skin the

Badgers. And then we're going to go to Chicago and win that thing

and go dancing."

It was typical Keady -- refusing to give up, never giving in.

His players tried to emulate those characteristics on the court,

but it wasn't enough Saturday.

Purdue led 31-18 at halftime and extended the margin to 40-25

with 14:44 to play. But the Golden Gophers (19-9, 9-6 Big Ten)

fought back against a undermanned Purdue squad that lost the Big

Ten's top scorer, Carl Landry, early in the first half with a right

knee injury. An injury update was not expected until Sunday.

Grier scored 12 of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes, while

Robinson added 14 points and had four 3-pointers. Purdue still had

a chance to force overtime on Brandon McKnight's 12-footer at the

buzzer, but the ball bounced off the back of the rim.

Minnesota won in West Lafayette for only the third time since

1982.

"I hate to see him go out with a loss, but that's the way the

ball bounces," Robinson said. "I don't want to lose. He doesn't

want to lose. Somebody's got to lose."

For Keady, it was another agonizing day in the most frustrating

season of his coaching career. Following the game, school officials

and boosters gave him gifts -- a golf trip to Scotland, framed

programs from his first and last game at Purdue, a No. 25 jersey

and the distinction of having a golf tournament in Las Vegas named

after him.

Throughout the game, Keady was himself.

He stood on the sidelines, sometimes barking at players,

sometimes punching at air, pleading for fouls, sometimes even

smiling.

Nothing helped. Purdue (7-18, 3-11) lost its third straight.

"I had a feeling today, to just attack, just go hard,"

McKnight said after scoring 18 points. "You could tell by how we

played defense in the first half, we hadn't played defense like

that all year. We were everywhere."

In the first half, Purdue's passion was reminiscent of Keady's

glory days in the mid-1990s, and the crowd reacted the same way.

Fans held signs that read "Thanks Coach" and "Thanks for the

memories" and the noise reached a decibel level that rekindled

memories of Purdue's run to three straight Big Ten titles. When the

Boilermakers started to sputter, the student section pieced

together a portrait of Keady.

Like most everything else done in Keady's honor, it drew a

standing ovation.

The crowd seemed to rattle the Gophers early. Minnesota

committed 11 turnovers and shot 30.4 percent in the first half as

Purdue took control with 6-0 and 10-0 runs.

By the second half, Minnesota settled down.

"It was a great emotional game," Grier said. "They played a

little harder than us in the beginning and all we had to do was

calm down."

Grier steadied his teammates with an array of drives and

off-balance shots, opening up the outside for Robinson.

Minnesota's rally started with Grier's 12-foot jumper, and when

Robinson hit a 3-pointer with 9:52 to go, the Gophers were within

42-39.

Grier took care of the rest. He tied the score at 48 on another

12-footer with 7:04 left and gave Minnesota a 50-48 lead when he

retrieved an errant Purdue pass and went in for a dunk.

"A couple shots started going in. We all hit some big ones down

the stretch," Grier said. "That's what opened the game up for

us."

The Boilermakers regained the lead twice more -- on Chris

Hartley's late 3-pointer and when McKnight connected on 1 of 2 free

throws for a 56-55 lead with 1:41 left.

But Dan Coleman answered with a 3-pointer to make it 58-56.

Purdue got one more chance to give Keady his biggest gift, after

J'son Stamper missed both free throws with 5.9 seconds left. But

McKnight's shot bounced away.

"I felt it was money," McKnight said. "I was just so

shocked."

Keady finished his career at Purdue with a record of 282-72,

including 20-4 against the Gophers.

To Keady, though, it was an emotional finish to a career that

included six Big Ten titles and seven conference coach of the year

awards.

"I just don't have a good attitude when I lose," he said.

"It's just one of those things, it's unfortunate we couldn't win

this game so you could feel better. But, hey, life isn't about you

feeling good, it's about what happens and what happens was we got

beat."